Boiling Times

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Just wondering how long everyone boils their wort for when brewing a beer?

My standard procedure is a 60 minute boil for most beers.
If I'm doing a Scottish Ale I will boil for 90 minutes.
And if I were to brew a Barley Wine (and one day I will) it would be for 120 minutes +.

C&B
TDA

 

[Trough Lolly]

60mins is my standard time - 90 mins for bocks, dunkelweizens, dark lagers and other heavies...
TL

 

[Doc]

I do a 90 minute boil for everything.

Doc

 

[big d]

average of 60min but occasionaly will go 90 minutes.

cheers
big d

 

[pint of lager]

90 minute rolling boil, bittering hops go in for 60 minutes.

 

[sluggerdog]

I don't boil at all (kits and bits) except once I did for about 20 mins as I had hops in at different stages, boiling the malt/dextrose/corn syrup with it.

Didn't really know if I should boil or not, my HBS guy says not to worry about it, not needed... Is he wrong?

 

[roach]

60 mostly with 90 on the odd occassion, although 70 as we speak for somethin different

 

[Darren]

60 mostly with 90 on the odd occassion, although 70 as we speak for somethin different

Usually 60 min. BW for hours.
Must be nice to brew during the week Roach!

 

[roach]

Thanks Darren. During the week with the occassional day off is a good time to brew, with SWMBO and the kids out of the way. Trying some of your US-56 BTW

 

[Darren]

Thanks Darren. During the week with the occassional day off is a good time to brew, with SWMBO and the kids out of the way. Trying some of your US-56 BTW

Let me know how it turns out. I was initially impressed with the yeast nice and fruity. It does leave that "SAF" taste to the finished beer though.
Darren

 

[wee stu]

I boil it for as long as the packet tells me h34r:

Most have been 60 - I'd go 90 in a scottish to get some caramelisation going perhaps, and for bigger beers

 

[jayse]

90mins here but the timer is not my tool for predicting the exact boil finish, after all what does that know about your wort all it measures is time.
The real measure of the boil end is a gravity reading or dip stick. Given that, my boil is 'average' 90mins but can be 5 mins either side of that, a big factor that could change the boil time is the wind on the day etc, many brewers boil by time alone and ask why they never get there volume and gravity right, all i say to that is time is a guide not the definit time to turn the heat of.
Saying that ussually my boil is always 90mins, just i don't use the time as the be all and end all, the gravity and volume is the most important. If that makes sense.

Jayse

 

[neonmeate]

i try to boil for 90 mins for everything, but depending on whether i'm trying to get other stuff done after i brew i'll often settle for less, usually 70 mins minimum (10mins boil for hot break then 60 mins hops). for my lambic i did a 3 hour boil, also barleywines for a couple of hours.

i'm pretty haphazard about it but i notice when i do boil the full 90mins the beer is brighter.
not that i care too much about cloudy beer but other people do. has anyone noticed no matter how bad the beer tastes, everyone else always thinks a clear beer with good head retention tastes fantastic and a cloudy one tastes crap. people are so shallow!

 

[Gough]

Usually 60-70 mins for me.

Shawn.

 

[Darren]

has anyone noticed no matter how bad the beer tastes, everyone else always thinks a clear beer with good head retention tastes fantastic and a cloudy one tastes crap.

Yep, and dark beers are always bitter and strong!

 

[RobW]

Usually about 90 min but as Jayse says, time can vary depending on other factors.

 

[nonicman]

Jayse

The real measure of the boil end is a gravity reading or dip stick. Given that, my boil is 'average' 90mins but can be 5 mins either side of that, a big factor that could change the boil time is the wind on the day etc, many brewers boil by time alone and ask why they never get there volume and gravity right, all i say to that is time is a guide not the definit time to turn the heat of.

Saying that ussually my boil is always 90mins, just i don't use the time as the be all and end all, the gravity and volume is the most important. If that makes sense.

That makes sense. I would have said 60 minutes most times, but for the next brew it will be by volume. Thanks Jayse.

 

[pint of lager]

There are a lot of chemical reactions going on while the boil is occurring. Flavour, clarity of the beer and long term stability spring to mind.

Am at 900 metres where the boil temp is between 97-98 deg C, so I always do a full 90 minutes. I did for a while boil only for 60 minutes at someone's suggestion, and always had clarity problems.

As Jayse said, there are a lot of different factors that affect the boil off rate. But I do not worry so much about evaporation, just that the rolling boil occurs for the full time.

 

[JasonY]

I generally boil for 90mins as I find that my beers are generally a bit brighter in the finished product. That said if I am in a hurry I go for 60.

As far as volume and gravity go well I don't bother once I am boiling. I do a gravity check at the start and I know what volume I have to start with. If the gravity is out I make a call on wether I want a higher OG (change the IBU?), same OG but more beer (increase the hops to match) etc.

If I am out on volume it is going to take some time at 3L/hr to get it right (assuming I am over!) & this may screw the IBUs up too much.

All else being equal I reserve the right to stuff it all up

 

[Jovial_Monk]

I tend to boil for about 75 mins, 15 mins or so to deal with the hot break, then add the bittering hops and boil another 60 mins

Mostly though I boil longer as I prefer big beers, my Traquair House clone was boiled for 3 hours, I have boiled BWs and RIS for 5. Smaller beers, usually second runnings usually less than 70 mins

Jovial Monk